I was thinking right after last year’s open scrimmage film came out. You may very well be right though.
I was on the Dawkins nba train. Still think he’s gonna end up being a beast/ top scorer two years from now
I second that.
But how many points will the opponent who he is guarding score?
We’ll feel bad when has has some games over 30 pt (making 7 threes)…but his defense was SO bad. It stood out on every play, I’m not sure his lack of awareness on that end will ever get fixed. Or maybe our d coaching style didn’t fit him and he’ll use his athleticism to become a 2 way star.
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A large part of DJ Wilson conversation is defining expectations, right; what do people define as a “break out” for Wilson?
If people are expecting him to average 10 & 8 with elite defense and “scary” rim protection — I think you’re going to be disappointed.
If people are expecting him to average 6 & 4 in 15-18 mins with B1G average defense at the “4-spot” & some threat of shot altering around the rim — I think there’s a reasonable chance he provides that.
Both levels of expectation could be cased as “break out year” by different people.
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Player A had an ORtgof 97.3 (worse than Irvin) and a TS% of 47.1 (worse than Irvin) despite playing against against easier competition and still made the top 20.
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I think it’s fair to say that there’s an argument for Irvin to be off the list at the start of the season, but I agree that some of the people who were put on the list are puzzling.
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I’m not sure I am “expecting” either for DJ but I am certainly hoping for something like 6 & 4 or slightly better with solid defense.
Based upon their past performances I would not put Walton or Irvin on a top 20 list. Top 30 yes. Top 20 to me would mean there is talk of them making the NBA. I don’t see it. I do think they are both capable of making very good improvements this year, if they stay healthy, so anything is possible…
It was a lot more than 1 or 2. Was getting out of hand.
Man, I’m not sure how anyone would say that. Guy has barely played, not sure why the NBA talk right now other than sarcasm?
Michigan needs 10-15 really solid minutes of defense, finishing and maybe a few jumpers (and way better shot selection). I think that’s reasonable, but certainly no guarantee.
Has no chance to make it. Zero.
Dawkins and Wilson: two un-Beilein players.
Wilson somewhat reminds me of Horford. Horford early on launched too many ill advised 3’s, and didn’t really understand his role, frustrating Coach Beilein.
Horford did finally start to come around but never did really get in tune, especially on the defensive end. I hope Wilson is able to play the role Coach Beilein wants him to play. He should get 6 point a game if he runs back door effectively from the baseline.
Re Horford, I really think he was coming back for his senior season until the Kentucky game, after which he had a change of heart. When Horford entered the Kentucky game, replacing Morgan, Kentucky went on a dunk fest, with Horford repeatedly caught in no man’s land, and Kentucky finishing with weak side slams.
Re: DJ’s NBA possibilities, This is what I said at the time and other than it’s looking like I completely swung/missed on Chatman, I still think at some point if he grows into his physical abilities that he could get an invite. That tall and athletic will probably get someone to want to take a closer look.
Playing like he should in his senior year Irvin would be a 2nd rounder.
Kam will be good enough for late first/early second range.
Wagner will be in the league and potentially could be mid first round.
Wouldn’t surprise me if DJ grows into himself if he gets a camp invite somewhere as well.
DeWalt/Maar will have to decide if they want to play overseas or put their degrees to work. Aubrey probably is the same path and could become a dunking all star in china on starburys team some day.
If he is sharing the 4 with Duncan, I don’t see him getting more than 15 minutes. Probably more like 8-12. I would be happy with 6-8 points and 3-5 rebounds in those minutes and being able to guard the position (especially against the taller 4s).
Wilson and Levert, by many accounts, looked like the two best players at the open scrimmage. Wilson was on fire from 3…It felt like he made 5 or 6 of 6 or 7.
Later there was a report from the practice that maize rage was invited to. It was reported that DJ took a ton of threes but was not making anything…
I don’t remember anyone thinking he would jet to the NBA but I do remember a lot of people being excited that he would be a significant contributor…
If he would just stop jacking threes at such a high rate, he would be an instantly more valuable player, imo.
Yeah that was me:
So, was at the practice today. We got to see the last hour and 15 minutes of practice. A lot of the same drills as last night with about 6-8 minutes of scrimmage at the end. This was Irvin’s first day being a full participant in practice, and apparently the first time Spike was a full participant in two weeks.
No one really shot particularly well (besides Duncan of course), so no one particularly stood out as having a great practice, IMO. DJ Wilson looked confident shooting the 3 (although I didn’t see him make one), and he went 1/1 on that bank shot we saw in the previous practice. Donnal looked a little better than he did in the previous open practice as he was able to get some offensive boards on Doyle. MAAR had a lot of run with the scout team today, but that might just be a function of the scout team needing another guard. As far as practicing at multiple positions(guard/wing/post): Irvin played guard and wing (mostly wing), DJ played wing and post (mostly wing) and Moritz played wing and post (mostly post). Everyone else stuck to one position, I believe. Doyle seemed to draw continuous ire from Beilein for making sloppy mistakes.
Seemed like Wilson and Donnal got the most run as the 1st team frontcourt, so I anticipate that our exhibition lineup is gonna be
Walton - Levert - Dawkins - Wilson - Donnal
I think Donnal will start the season as the center as he seems to make fewer mistakes in practice than Doyle, and his main weakness (man - post defense) isn’t really tested in practice. So, I think he’ll go to the bench after getting beat up down low to start the season (he really doesn’t look any different to me).
Kind of like how his season went…
Until Christmas he was 7-13 from 3 (53.8%)
After Christmas he was 1-11 from 3 (09.1%)
What will we get this year?
Beilein has be quoted discussing a 3-guard rotation with a 3-wing rotation and a 2-center split (w/a 3rd center for foul trouble minutes). If you take Beilein at his word, that would mean Wilson getting minutes when each of Robinson & Irvin rest, which probably works out to something in the 15-17mpg range?
(And also a point of clarification, last season Robinson usually defended the opposing 3-spot forward and Irvin usually defended the opposing 4-spot forward — my presumption is Wilson would defend the 4-spot when he’s on the court and Robinson or Irvin would defend 3-spot when playing alongside Wilson)